FBI, 5 other agencies probe possible covert Kremlin aid to Trump  —  WASHINGTON  —  The FBI and five other law enforcement and intelligence agencies have collaborated for months in an investigation into Russian attempts to influence the November election, including whether money …

Assange lawyer: Manning commutation doesn't meet extradition offer's conditions  —  The attorney for Julian Assange said President Obama's commutation of Chelsea Manning's sentence does not meet the conditions of the WikiLeaks head's offer to be extradited to the United States if Manning were pardoned.

Trump inauguration time, how to watch, and what to expect  —  After more than a year of campaigning, 26 primary and general election debates, and countless press conferences, attack ads, victory speeches, public apologies, and early morning Twitter rants, Donald Trump's inauguration is here.

The Betsy DeVos Hearing Was an Insult to Democracy  —  Who are the real grizzlies?  —  WASHINGTON, D.C.—It was not a hearing.  It was the mere burlesque of a hearing, rendered meaningless by a preposterously accelerated process that rendered all questioning perfunctory and that left …

Trump aide: Dems are trying to humiliate Cabinet nominees  —  's close aide Kellyanne Conway on Wednesday blasted Democrats for “trying to embarrass” the incoming administration's Cabinet nominees.  —  “This idea of humiliating and trying to embarrass qualified men and women who just wish …

Reality bites: Trump's wake-up call  —  NEW YORK — On Twitter and in public, Donald Trump remains an uncompromising mix of bluster and bombast.  Behind the scenes, he's confronting, and in some cases succumbing (slightly) to, the hard truths of governing and leading a world that hangs on his every word.

Is Donald Trump Writing His Inaugural Address from a Mar-a-Lago Receptionist's Desk?  An Investigation … As tends to be the case with the president-elect's social-media statements, there is much to discuss.  First, there's the fact that Trump seems to be drafting his first speech as POTUS with a ... Sharpie.

Democratic Rep. Gabbard Makes Secret Trip to Syria  —  The Hawaii lawmaker, who has bucked both parties on the issue of Syria, met with government officials on a “fact finding” trip.  —  Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii has just departed war-torn Damascus following a trip her aides described as a …

President Bush moved to ICU; Mrs. Bush also hospitalized  —  Former President George H.W. Bush has been at Houston Methodist Hospital for treatment of pneumonia.  Mrs. Bush has also been admitted to the hospital due to “fatigue and coughing”. … HOUSTON - Former President George H.W. Bush …

How Donald Trump came up with ‘Make America Great Again’ … “Make America Great Again.”  —  The four words that would help propel Donald Trump to the White House were an inspiration born years before, when hardly anyone but Trump himself could imagine him taking the oath of office as the 45th president of the United States.

Earth Sets a Temperature Record for the Third Straight Year  —  Marking another milestone for a changing planet, scientists reported on Wednesday that the Earth reached its highest temperature on record in 2016 — trouncing a record set only a year earlier, which beat one set in 2014.

Trump Budget Nominee Did Not Pay Taxes for Employee  —  WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump's choice for White House budget director failed to pay more than $15,000 in payroll taxes for a household employee, he admitted in a statement to the Senate Budget Committee …

Christie: Mary Pat refused to move to D.C. for Trump White House job  —  TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday disclosed that first lady Mary Pat Christie had refused to move with the governor to Washington D.C. should he take a job in the Trump cabinet, and that this informed …

Trump's D.C. hotel bans press during inauguration week  —  The Trump International Hotel in Washington is banning the media from its premises during inauguration week.  —  “Media is not allowed in this week in respect of the privacy of our guests,” Patricia Tang, the hotel's director of sales and marketing wrote in an email.

Some 30 Jewish institutions across US targeted in second wave of bomb threats  —  WASHINGTON (JTA) — Some 30 Jewish institutions in at least 17 states have received bomb threats, Jewish security officials said, in the second wave of such mass disruption in two weeks.

Tom Price Just Contradicted Trump Team's Defense Of His Questionable Stock Trades  —  Trump's pick for HHS secretary admitted he, not an independent financial adviser, chose to buy stock in a biotech firm.  —  Money in Politics Reporter, The Huffington Post

Trump pays out $25 million to settle Trump University litigation  —  Days before President-elect Donald Trump is set to take the oath to uphold the Constitution, he has followed through on a more painful obligation: coughing up $25 million to settle litigation over his defunct Trump University real estate seminar program.

Take a peek inside the most expensive home for sale in the US  —  This is the most expensive home in America  —  A newly built modern palace overlooking Los Angeles has just become the most expensive home listed in the United States.  Price tag: $250 million.

America's Great Working-Class Colleges  —  The heyday of the colleges that serve America's working class can often feel very long ago.  It harks back to the mid-20th century, when City College of New York cost only a few hundred dollars a year and was known as the “Harvard of the proletariat.”

Breaking: Donald Trump taps Sonny Perdue as his agriculture chief  —  President-elect Donald Trump picked former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue on Wednesday to be his agriculture secretary, tapping a veterinarian-turned-politician who was the state's first Republican governor in more than a century to lead the sprawling department.